São Paulo police "have banned away fans from attending city derbies until the end of the year after a bystander was shot dead on Sunday as Palmeiras and Corinthians fans battled ahead of their state championship game." The decision "was taken by the state's military police in conjunction with the Paulista State Football Federation and public prosecutors." Although they did not specify which clubs "would be hit by the move, it is likely to apply to the state's big four -- Corinthians, Palmeiras, Santos and Sao Paulo."
Authorities also announced they "would ban home fans groups from taking banners and drums into stadiums in the state" (AAP, 4/5).
DYKE FACING OPPOSITION: Opposition within the FA to Chair Greg Dyke's proposed reforms "has reached such a pitch that national game councillors will back" Dave Richards to succeed him in July.
The backing from amateur football for the former EPL chairman "comes even though he was heavily aligned with the professional game when in power and, at 73, is three years over the age limit for the job." The "bizarre bandwagon" behind Richards, which follows his speech against Dyke's reforms at a recent FA Council meeting, "demonstrates the anger among the blazers at Dyke's reign, as well as those of his independent predecessors" David Bernstein and David Triesman (London DAILY MAIL, 4/4).
FOOTBALL BRIEFS ...
The Hellenic Football Federation (EPO) received on Tuesday the final letter of warning from FIFA that "threatens the Greek game with suspension from all international competitions unless the government complies with its demands by April 15."
The two-page letter "has a form of ultimatum to the Greek government." It asks EPO and the Sports Ministry "to restart the Greek Cup immediately." The letter also makes it clear that the FIFA membership of the Greek federation "will be 'suspended' unless the Greek Cup restarts" (EKATHIMERINI, 4/5).
The Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC) appointed Impactt Ltd. as an independent third party external monitor "to further consolidate the auditing and inspections process" of the SC Workers’ Welfare Standards (WW Standards), and regulations which are incorporated into all contracts for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. FIFA said on its website that the second edition of the WW Standards which was published on March 1 "sets out the SC requirements, which cover the recruitment, employment, living and working conditions of everyone engaged on an SC project" (GDN ONLINE, 4/5).
A record 13 FIFA member associations have stepped forward, spanning five confederations, registering their interest in bringing the FIFA Futsal World Cup 2020 to their country in four years' time. The full list features Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Georgia, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the UAE and the U.S. The only continent not to have a nation in the running is South America, which will be seeing the competition arrive on its soil at Colombia 2016 (FIFA).
